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Back home, my friends call me nicknames,
在老家,我的朋友幫我取暱稱,
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such as "The Giant Clam Girl,"
比如「巨蚌女孩」、
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"Clam Queen,"
「蚌蛤女王」、
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or, "The Mother of Clams."
或是「蚌蛤之母。」
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(Laughter)
(笑聲)
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This is because every time I see them,
這是因為每當我見到他們,
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I talk nonstop about giant clams all day,
就會整天不停地談論著巨蚌,
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every day.
每天都如此。
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Giant clams are these massive and colorful shelled marine animals,
巨蚌是這種又大又重,且色彩鮮艷的有殼海洋動物,
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the largest of its kind.
是同類中最大的。
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Just look at this shell.
看看這個殼。
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The biggest recorded individual was four-and-a-half-feet long
記錄中最大的巨蚌,有 4.5 英呎長,
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and weighed about 550 pounds.
重量約 550 磅。
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That is almost as heavy as three baby elephants.
那幾乎是三隻幼象加起來的重量。
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South Pacific legends once described giant clams as man-eaters
南太平洋傳奇中說到巨蚌會吃人,
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that would lie in wait on the seabed to trap unsuspecting divers.
牠們躺在海底等待,捕捉那些沒起疑的潛水夫。
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A story goes that a diver had lost his legs
有個故事說,一位潛水夫失去了雙腳,
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while trying to retrieve a pearl from a giant clam.
當時他正試圖從巨蚌中取得珍珠。
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I thought, "Really?"
我心想:「真的嗎?」
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So out of curiosity,
出於好奇心,
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I did an experiment using myself as bait.
我做了個實驗,用我自己當餌。
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(Laughter)
(笑聲)
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I carefully placed my hand into the clam's mouth and waited.
我小心地把我的手放到蚌蛤的口中,等待著。
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Hmm ...
嗯……
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I still have my hand.
我的手還在。
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It seems that these gentle giants would rather retreat
似乎這些溫和的巨大生物寧可退開,
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and protect their fleshy bodies
保護牠們的肉體,
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than feed on me.
而非把我當食物。
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So much for those killer clam myths!
蚌蛤殺手的神話就到此為止。
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Unfortunately, the reality is,
不幸的是,
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we are the giant clams' biggest threat.
事實上我們是巨蚌最大的威脅。
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Considered a delicacy throughout the Western Pacific and Indian Oceans,
從西太平洋一路到印度洋,牠們慣例被當成是佳餚,
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giant clams have been traditionally fished as seafood.
被捕捉之後,做成海鮮料理。
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Fishermen are particularly interested in their adductor muscles,
漁夫特別感興趣的是牠們的閉殼肌,
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which are organs that hold the two shells together like a hinge.
也就是把兩片殼 連起來的鉸鏈式器官。
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Just for their muscles,
只因為牠們的肌肉,
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giant clams were almost hunted to extinction
在 1960 到 1980 代間,
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between the 1960s and 1980s.
巨蚌幾乎被捕殺到絕種。
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Clamshells are also popular in the ornamental trade
在飾品貿易上,蚌殼也很搶手,
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as jewelry and for display.
被當作珠寶,用來展示。
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In the South China Sea,
在南海,
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fishermen went out of their way to collect fossilized clamshells
漁夫會特地去收集變成化石的蚌殼,
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by digging through large areas of coral reefs.
他們會挖遍珊瑚礁來尋找。
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These were later carved and sold as so-called "ivory handicrafts" in China.
這些是在中國被雕刻再販售的、所謂「象牙手工藝品」。
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Giant clams, dead or alive, are not safe from us.
巨蚌,不論死活,都逃不過我們的手掌心。
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It's a "clamity!"
這是「蚌災」!
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(Laughter)
(笑聲)
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(Applause)
(掌聲)
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With the spotlight on more charismatic marine animals
有魅力的海洋動物比較會得到注意力,
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such as the whales and coral reefs,
比如鯨魚和珊瑚礁,
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it is easy to forget that other marine life needs our help, too.
很容易就會忘記其他海洋生命也需要我們的協助。
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My fascination with giant clams got me started on conservation research
我對巨蚌的著迷,讓我開始進行保育研究,
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to fill in the knowledge gaps on their ecology and behavior.
補起關於牠們的生態與行為的知識缺口。
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One of the discoveries that we made was that giant clams could walk
我們的發現之一是巨蚌
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across the seafloor.
會在海底行走。
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Yes, you heard me right:
是的,你們沒聽錯:
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they can walk.
牠們會行走。
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To find out,
為了求證,
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we placed numerous baby clams on a grid.
我們把數隻幼蚌放在格子上。
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Now watch what happens over 24 hours.
看看二十四小時後發生了什麼事。
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We think that walking is important for getting away from predators
我們認為行走的重要性是為了遠離獵食者,
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and finding mates for breeding.
以及找尋交配對象,
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While it can hard to imagine any movement in these enormous animals,
雖然很難想像這些巨大的動物會移動,
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giant clams up to 400 pounds can still walk,
重達 400 磅的巨蚌仍可以行走,
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they just move slower.
只是移動得比較慢些。
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During my PhD, I discovered more secrets about the giant clams.
在我讀博士班時,我發現了更多關於巨蚌的秘密。
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But there was something missing in my work.
但,我的研究中少了什麼。
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I found myself asking,
我發現自己納悶:
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"Why should people care about conserving giant clams?" --
「為什麼人們要在乎巨蚌的保育?」
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other than myself, of course.
當然,是指我以外的人。
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(Laughter)
(笑聲)
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It turns out that giant clams have a giant impact on coral reefs.
結果發現,巨蚌對於珊瑚礁的影響很巨大。
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These multitasking clams are reef builders,
這些蚌蛤是多工的,牠們是珊瑚礁建造者、
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food factories,
食物工廠、
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shelters for shrimps and crabs
蝦子和螃蟹的庇護所、
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and water filters,
以及濾水器,
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all rolled into one.
多種功能合一。
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In a nutshell,
概括來說,
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giant clams play a major contributing role
巨蚌對牠們自己住的珊瑚礁扮演著重要貢獻的角色,
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as residents of their own reef home,
光是有牠們在那裡,
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and just having them around keeps the reef healthy.
就能保持珊瑚礁健康。
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And because they can live up to 100 years old,
因為巨蚌能活到一百歲,
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giant clams make vital indicators of coral reef health.
牠們是珊瑚礁的重要健康指標。
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So when giant clams start to disappear from coral reefs,
當珊瑚礁中的巨蚌開始消失,
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their absence can serve as an alarm bell
牠們的失蹤可被當作是警鈴,
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for scientists to start paying attention,
要科學家開始多留意,
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similar to the canary in a coal mine.
類似煤礦中的金絲雀。
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But giant clams are endangered.
但巨蚌已瀕臨絕種。
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The largest clam in the world is facing the threat of extinction,
世界上最大的蚌蛤正在面臨絕種的威脅,
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with more than 50 percent of the wild population severely depleted.
野生巨蚌族群有超過 50% 在嚴重減少中。
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And the ecological benefits of having giant clams on coral reefs
只有在這個族群能保持健康的情況下,
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are likely to continue only if populations are healthy,
巨蚌在珊瑚礁中產生的生態益處才可能持續,
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making their conservation paramount.
因此牠們的保育非常重要。
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So I stand here today to give a voice to the giant clams,
所以今天我在這裡,為巨蚌發聲,
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because I care a whole lot for these amazing animals,
因為我非常關心這些不可思議的動物,
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and they deserve to be cared for.
牠們應該要被好好照顧。
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It is time for the giant clams to step out of their shells,
該是巨蚌走出蚌殼的時候了,
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and show the world that they, too, can be the heroes of the oceans.
讓世界知道,牠們也可以扮演海洋的英雄。
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Thank you very much.
非常謝謝。
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(Applause)
(掌聲)